Question: Why should owners who select a no pets bylaw have their decision overturned?
Answer: Even though you might want something, what you want in the eyes of the law is unreasonable, and therefore you just can’t have it.
This is a really good question and it was dealt with by the court in the Cooper case. There are many people out there who think they should be masters of their own destiny. So they should be able to decide whether their building will allow pets or be pet free.
But what you have to realise is that there are laws that place constraints on the ability of an owners corporation to make bylaws, including pets bylaws. What the Court has said is that those constraints make it impossible to have bylaws that impose blanket bans on pets, and that in the words of the court, a democratic will of the majority of owners doesn’t convert a democracy into a majoritarian dictatorship. So the court was sending a message to owners in strata land in New South Wales, that even though you might want something, what you want in the eyes of the law is unreasonable, and therefore you just can’t have it.
This post appears in Strata News #467.
Adrian Mueller JS Mueller & Co Lawyers E: adrianmueller@muellers.com.au P: 02 9562 1266